Well, with a little bit of a blog actually …

The Fellowship of the Rings …

So yesterday saw me learning something new and that was a Jewellery Course and how to make a Silver Ring!

Since moving to Tulloch, I am realising, that Kirkmichael seems to be the hub of The Glens. There is always something going on and it will often take place at The Session House in the centre of the village.
We are all kept up to date by Newsletters sent out by Petrina and I am often surprised by how much there is to do and to get involved with.
But since our move here, I just haven’t found the time to participate in things yet.
Upon receiving a Newsletter about a Jewellery Course run by the talented Sheila Roussel, I decided I HAD to make time.
I am always keen to learn something new and it would be a great opportunity to meet new faces too.

So yesterday, I took the short drive to the village to learn a new skill.
I was joined by Jeanette, Lyndsey and Carolanne, we would become The Fellowship of the Rings.

There were four workstations set out for us, with all the tools that we would need for this course.
I was sat wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew and hearing some of the others discuss their college & university textile course etc, I was starting to feel out of my depth, but this was all short-lived and our tutor Sheila soon put us all at ease and we were soon away working with Copper.
This would be our practise run and once we had produced a Copper Ring, we would then be let loose with the Silver.
Within no time, I was thoroughly enjoying myself.
Because this was a beginners course, it was all broken down into the stages we needed to go through to produce our rings and I don’t think we could have had a better tutor than Sheila to explain everything to us
We would begin by sizing our fingers (Or in my case, I would opt for a Thumb Ring). Then measure our metal and saw to the correct length.
This was followed by filing, then forming the actual band, then trying to bind the ends together (Tad tricky), that was before the soldering, then pickling.
It was then time for us to shape, smooth and finish our rings.
WOW, I had actually produced a piece of silver jewellery!
Sheila inspected our work and we all were awarded with our wee certificates and we admired each others work, congratulated each other and all expressed an interest in doing another course with Sheila, perhaps a Necklace to match our new Rings??